DIEHARD
----
- Messages
- 7,037
McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen has won the Canadian Grand Formula One Prix and slashed Fernando Alonso's championship lead on a bleak day for Renault.
Australia's Mark Webber finished fifth in his Williams.
On a humid afternoon full of drama, with McLaren deprived of a likely one-two by the exclusion of Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya, the title race was blasted wide open by Spaniard Alonso's first retirement of the year.
Raikkonen's third win in four races left him 22 points adrift of the 23-year-old Renault driver with 11 races remaining.
"At one point we were a bit lucky to win, but we were unlucky in the last race," said Raikkonen.
"We got the 10 points back that we lost at the last race and we are back in the championship, back and fighting again.
"We had a fast car but I had a small problem with the steering wheel. I asked the team what was going on and they said they could see the problem. They asked me to look over the car a bit, then I pushed as hard as I could to the end." Ferrari's seven times world champion Michael Schumacher, winner a record seven times in the past here, took second place with Brazilian teammate Rubens Barrichello third in the struggling champions' best race of the year so far.
Schumacher said: "If you look through the race, we had the performance to go a reasonable pace.
"That was not so obvious on Friday and we developed the car very well. We still have to work on the package to get it right at every moment but this was a great achievement for the team."
There was cruel luck for BAR after Jenson Button sent its hopes soaring with pole position.
The Briton retired after hitting the wall on the final corner before the pit straight on lap 48, an accident that briefly brought out the safety car.
Honda-powered BAR, runners-up to Ferrari last season, has yet to score a point with Japan's Takuma Sato also retiring.
Brazilian Felipe Massa was fourth in a Sauber, with Webber and Ralf Schumacher sixth for Toyota.
Briton David Coulthard seized two points for Red Bull with Austrian teammate Christian Klien taking another in eighth place on his return after four races as reserve.
The big loser was Renault, whose drivers made a storming start from the second row, Italian Giancarlo Fisichella whistling past Schumacher and Button on one side while Alonso punched through on the other.
Suspicions that the two front row cars had qualified light on fuel proved well-founded, with Schumacher the first to pit at the end of lap 12 and Button coming in three laps later.
With them out of the way, the race turned into a duel between the championship leader and closest rivals McLaren before fate ripped up the script.
Fischella's run of bad luck struck again after he had been in front for almost half the race.
He retired on lap 33, slowing as Alonso sped past and cruising back to the pits. Bitterly disappointed, he got out of the car and tossed his gloves to the floor.
Alonso's lead lasted six laps before he too retired.
Renault team boss Flavio Briatore was philosophical about the double blow.
"It's Formula One, one bad day it happens, it happens to somebody else, it happens to us, it's part of the game," said the Italian.
"What is very important is that the car was very competitive, both drivers were very competitive ... we have plenty of time to recover from this drama."
With Raikkonen leading Montoya, the Colombian wrecked his race by leaving the pit lane under a red light. Stewards promptly excluded him.
Canadian Jacques Villeneuve, who had earned rare praise from team boss Peter Sauber after he qualified eighth, had another afternoon to forget.
The 1997 world champion, racing before his home crowd at a circuit named after his father, pitted for a new front wing on the second lap and rejoined the race in last place. He eventually finished ninth.
Results, standings
1. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) McLaren 1h32:09.290
2. Michael Schumacher (GER) Ferrari 1.137
3. Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Ferrari 40.483
4. Felipe Massa (BRA) Sauber 55.139, 5. Mark Webber (AUS) Williams 55.779, 6. Ralf Schumacher (GER) Toyota 1 lap, 7. David Coulthard (GBR) Red Bull 1 lap, 8. Christian Klien (AUT) Red Bull 1 lap, 9. Jacques Villeneuve (CAN) Sauber 1 lap, 10. Tiago Monteiro (POR) Jordan 3 laps, 11. Christijan Albers (NED) Minardi 3 laps
Overall standings
Drivers
1. Fernando Alonso (ESP) 59pts
2. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) 37
3. Jarno Trulli (ITA) 27
4. Nick Heidfeld (GER) 25, 5. Michael Schumacher (GER) 24, 6. Mark Webber (AUS) 22, 7. Rubens Barrichello (BRA) 21, 8. Ralf Schumacher (GER) 20, 9. Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) 17, 10. David Coulthard (GBR) 17, 11. Juan Pablo Montoya (COL) 16, 12. Felipe Massa (BRA) 7, 13. Alexander Wurz (AUT) 6, 14. Jacques Villeneuve (CAN) 5, 15. Pedro de la Rosa (ESP) 4.0, 16. Christian Klien (AUT) 4, 17. Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA) 1
Constructors
1. Renault 76pts
2. McLaren-Mercedes 63
3. Toyota 47
4. Williams-BMW 47, 5. Ferrari 45, 6. Red Bull 22, 7. Sauber-Petronas 12
Reuters
Australia's Mark Webber finished fifth in his Williams.
On a humid afternoon full of drama, with McLaren deprived of a likely one-two by the exclusion of Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya, the title race was blasted wide open by Spaniard Alonso's first retirement of the year.
Raikkonen's third win in four races left him 22 points adrift of the 23-year-old Renault driver with 11 races remaining.
"At one point we were a bit lucky to win, but we were unlucky in the last race," said Raikkonen.
"We got the 10 points back that we lost at the last race and we are back in the championship, back and fighting again.
"We had a fast car but I had a small problem with the steering wheel. I asked the team what was going on and they said they could see the problem. They asked me to look over the car a bit, then I pushed as hard as I could to the end." Ferrari's seven times world champion Michael Schumacher, winner a record seven times in the past here, took second place with Brazilian teammate Rubens Barrichello third in the struggling champions' best race of the year so far.
Schumacher said: "If you look through the race, we had the performance to go a reasonable pace.
"That was not so obvious on Friday and we developed the car very well. We still have to work on the package to get it right at every moment but this was a great achievement for the team."
There was cruel luck for BAR after Jenson Button sent its hopes soaring with pole position.
The Briton retired after hitting the wall on the final corner before the pit straight on lap 48, an accident that briefly brought out the safety car.
Honda-powered BAR, runners-up to Ferrari last season, has yet to score a point with Japan's Takuma Sato also retiring.
Brazilian Felipe Massa was fourth in a Sauber, with Webber and Ralf Schumacher sixth for Toyota.
Briton David Coulthard seized two points for Red Bull with Austrian teammate Christian Klien taking another in eighth place on his return after four races as reserve.
The big loser was Renault, whose drivers made a storming start from the second row, Italian Giancarlo Fisichella whistling past Schumacher and Button on one side while Alonso punched through on the other.
Suspicions that the two front row cars had qualified light on fuel proved well-founded, with Schumacher the first to pit at the end of lap 12 and Button coming in three laps later.
With them out of the way, the race turned into a duel between the championship leader and closest rivals McLaren before fate ripped up the script.
Fischella's run of bad luck struck again after he had been in front for almost half the race.
He retired on lap 33, slowing as Alonso sped past and cruising back to the pits. Bitterly disappointed, he got out of the car and tossed his gloves to the floor.
Alonso's lead lasted six laps before he too retired.
Renault team boss Flavio Briatore was philosophical about the double blow.
"It's Formula One, one bad day it happens, it happens to somebody else, it happens to us, it's part of the game," said the Italian.
"What is very important is that the car was very competitive, both drivers were very competitive ... we have plenty of time to recover from this drama."
With Raikkonen leading Montoya, the Colombian wrecked his race by leaving the pit lane under a red light. Stewards promptly excluded him.
Canadian Jacques Villeneuve, who had earned rare praise from team boss Peter Sauber after he qualified eighth, had another afternoon to forget.
The 1997 world champion, racing before his home crowd at a circuit named after his father, pitted for a new front wing on the second lap and rejoined the race in last place. He eventually finished ninth.
Results, standings
1. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) McLaren 1h32:09.290
2. Michael Schumacher (GER) Ferrari 1.137
3. Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Ferrari 40.483
4. Felipe Massa (BRA) Sauber 55.139, 5. Mark Webber (AUS) Williams 55.779, 6. Ralf Schumacher (GER) Toyota 1 lap, 7. David Coulthard (GBR) Red Bull 1 lap, 8. Christian Klien (AUT) Red Bull 1 lap, 9. Jacques Villeneuve (CAN) Sauber 1 lap, 10. Tiago Monteiro (POR) Jordan 3 laps, 11. Christijan Albers (NED) Minardi 3 laps
Overall standings
Drivers
1. Fernando Alonso (ESP) 59pts
2. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) 37
3. Jarno Trulli (ITA) 27
4. Nick Heidfeld (GER) 25, 5. Michael Schumacher (GER) 24, 6. Mark Webber (AUS) 22, 7. Rubens Barrichello (BRA) 21, 8. Ralf Schumacher (GER) 20, 9. Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) 17, 10. David Coulthard (GBR) 17, 11. Juan Pablo Montoya (COL) 16, 12. Felipe Massa (BRA) 7, 13. Alexander Wurz (AUT) 6, 14. Jacques Villeneuve (CAN) 5, 15. Pedro de la Rosa (ESP) 4.0, 16. Christian Klien (AUT) 4, 17. Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA) 1
Constructors
1. Renault 76pts
2. McLaren-Mercedes 63
3. Toyota 47
4. Williams-BMW 47, 5. Ferrari 45, 6. Red Bull 22, 7. Sauber-Petronas 12
Reuters
